The wealth of available online content can mean that a TV sits in the corner gathering dust and the monthly subscription to a set-top box service just goes to waste. Such was the case for Alex Yoo of Dos Owls, so he got rid of both. Though quite liberating, he missed being able to sit back on the sofa and watch a movie on a big screen TV. He turned to a hefty projector and connected computer, but fighting through the cable spaghetti and dealing with issues like overheating prompted him to try and find another way. And so the idea for Odin was born – a pocket-sized projector with its own computer running Android KitKat, and packing built-in speakers, Wi-Fi and a battery.
The Odin's integrated Android 4.4 computer features a 1.6 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex A9 processor supported by 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage. It packs 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technologies, and one HDMI port, two USB ports and an audio out jack. Its built-in 3,000 mAh battery is reported to offer around 2 hours of portable performance, it has its own 90-degree kickstand and there's a control touchpad on the top of the unit.
Users can throw streamed movies from the likes of Netflix and Hulu onto any obliging wall at up to 250 diagonal inches, or plug a keyboard and mouse directly into the projector (or pair Bluetooth peripherals) and work on cloud documents. They can access digital files via online storage vaults, open up a Chrome browser and go surfing, or launch favorite apps.
Connect the 6 x 4.25 x 1.8 in (15.2 x 10.8 x 4.6 cm), 1.7 lb (771 g) Odin to a console and turn a living room wall into your game zone. Music from a Bluetooth-paired smartphone can be played through its two 4 W speakers, and the promise of quick and easy setup for boardroom presentations will doubtless have great appeal.
The designer reckons that the 0.3 in (0.76 cm) digital micromirror device optics and LED light source combination in the rotating head are so good that users will be able to throw a 45-inch projected image onto a wall and not even have to dim the house lights.
The manual focus projector has a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels (WVGA) with a refresh rate of 60 Hz, offers 1000:1 contrast ratio and puts out 115 ANSI lumens. "Most people think that 115 ANSI lumens are comparable to old projectors with thousands of lumens, they are not," explained Yoo. "Odin uses the latest LED tech and not the old halogen lamps."
Dos Owls is currently at the slick-looking pre-production prototype stage of development and has hit Kickstarter for the final push. Two early bird pledge levels are gone, but backers pledging US$499 can still save a few hundred bucks on the expected retail price of $845, assuming the project is funded and all goes to plan.
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